Stageworks/Hudson Close Revised IMAGINING MADOFF 8/7

Deborah Margolin's play IMAGINING MADOFF has its world premiere at Hudson, New York's Stageworks/Hudson from July 21 through August 7, the New York Times reports.  The play was previously cancelled at Washington's Theatre J due to complaints from Elie Wiesel, who was originally a character in the play and who found it "obscene" and "defamatory".  Wiesel has been replaced with a character called Solomon Galkin, who is a poet and, like Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor.  Galkin shares much dialogue with the Wiesel character, the Times reports.

Margolin said of Wiesel, "His name is synonymous with decency, morality, the struggle for human dignity and kindness, and in contrast to the most notorious financial criminal in the past 200 years. That's why he was there, and I felt I had treated his character with great respect -- the respect that I genuinely have felt for him."

Of Wiesel's objections, she told the Times, "This has been a profoundly painful experience, and I'm still scared to talk about it, because I can't get sued, there's no way I could afford it...But I also didn't want to abandon this play."

The play deals with a meeting between Bernard Madoff and Galkin.  The production at Stageworks/Hudson will be directed by Laura Margolis and will star Mark Margolis (Madoff) and Howard Green (Galkin).  Ari Roth, the artistic director of Theatre J, told the Times that he might possibly produce the play in the future. 

For more information about the production, visit Stageworks/Hudson's Facebook page. 

Photo Credit: Rob Shannon